Ditching-machine



T. K; LEONARD.

D'ITCHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JAN-2,19I5.

2 SHEETSSHE ET I.

Patented Oct. 12,1920.

L e (ward Patented Oct 12,1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2 glwvexwtoa 7. A. L e (ma/"d mia fi STATES UNITE.

THOMAS K. LEONARD, OF MECKLENBURG, NEW YORK. I

DITCI-IINGMACHINE.-

Application filed January 2, 1915. Serial No. 197.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1 THOMAS K. LEONARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mecklenburg, in the county of Schuyler and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Dltching- Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descrlption of the'invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to ditching machines, and one of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a ditching machine of comparatively simple construction which will dig a ditch of any desired depth and deposit the dirt taken from the ditch at one side thereof.v

Another object of the invention is to provide a ditching machine in which the plows and scraper may be adjusted at anysultable depth to loosen the earth and to deposit it on to an endless conveyer and such conveyer is adapted to deposit the dirt upon a discharge conveyer which dumps the dirt at the side of the ditch.

Another object of the invention,is to provide means for raising and lowering the plows and scraper so that the machine may be readily conveyed over the ground to the place of digging the ditch.

The foregoing and other objects may be attained by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichv Figure 1 is a. side elevation of a ditching machine made in accordance with this in:- vention."

Fig. 2 is a top plan view ofthe same.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the frame of the machine and 2 p is the axle on which are mounted the ground wheels 3 one on each side of the frame 1. The plow frame 4 is provided with a cross bar 5 and connected to said cross bar are the standards 6 of the plows 7, there being two plows shown. A vertical standard 4' is secured to the rear end of the beam 4,

and at the lower end of the standard is a supporting wheel 4". A scraper 8 is con nected by means of the standards 9 to the frame 2, said scraper adapted to follow the plow, and being inclined as shown in Fig. 1. A. pair of vertical members 10 are connected to a cross bar 11 on the plow frame, and such members are adapted to extend through Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

guide sleeves 11 mounted in the frame and the members 10 are provided with rack teeth 12 at their upper ends. A shaft 13 having a hand wheel 14 thereon carries a pair of pinions 15 which mesh with the teeth 12, and the shaft 13' is supported upon suitable brackets or uprights l6. Rigidly connected to the upper end of the rack bar are rearwardly extending bars 17. The bars 17 are connected to an endless conveyer frame 18 which carries an endless conveyer 19 having suitable buckets, or flights 20, and said conveyer passes around rollers or drums 21 at its opposite ends. Pivotally connected to the axle of the upper drum is an arm 21 and connected to the inner end of said arm is a member 22. There are two of the arms 21 and 22 and mounted in the outer ends of the arms 21 is a sprocket wheel which carries a chain 23, while at the opposite end of said member 21 is a sprocket wheel 24 around which the chain 28 passes. A sprocket wheel mounted on the shaft 25 carrlesa sprocket chain 26 which passes around another sprocket wheel 27 mounted on a shaft 28. The shaft 28 is journaled in the arms 22, and on-said shaft is a gear wheel 29 which meshes with a gear 30on the axle 2.

Mounted below the upper end of the endless conveyer is a dumping device consisting of an endless belt 31 which is operated by a chain 32, and said chain is moved by a sprocket wheel on shaft 33 mounted in the frame and provided with a beveled gear 34 which is connected with a beveled gear 35 on the axle 2. The discharging device 31 is inclined to deposit the dirt at the side of the ditch.

The front bars of the frame 1 are converging in form as shown at 36 in Fig. 2, and are provided with a cross bar 37. A standard is mounted on the cross bar 37 and a shaft 39 is mounted in the sleeve 40 on the standard 38, said shaft 39 having a hand wheel 41 thereon, and said shaft being inclined and provided with a worm 42 which engages a worm gear 43 mounted on the shaft 44. A cable 45 passes around a shaft result of the adjustment of the plow frame 4 may be taken up by turning the shaft 44 'through the hand wheel 41, shaft'39, worm 42 and worm wheel 43 A pilot wheel 47 is mounted in a fork 48 to place.-

which is united in a rod or standard 49 extending through a guide 50. A hand wheel 51 is mounted upon a shaft 52 journaled in brackets 53 at the front of the machine, and upon the shaft 52 is a pinion 54: which engages rack teeth 55 on the upper end of the standards or rods 49. The wheel 51 may be operated to raise and lower the frame of the machine to regulate the depth of cut of the plows andshovel. 1

From the foregoing, it will be obvious, that a machine made in accordance with this invention may be operated efficiently for digging ditches of various depths, and that the dirt taken from the ditch is deposited upon the sides of the ditch or road, and that by turning the hand wheel 1a the plows and scraper are raised off the ground and the machine may be conveyed from place arious changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is V 1. In a ditching machine, a main supporting frame, anmaxle carried thereby, groun wheels secured on said axle, a plow frame supported by said main frame for truly ver tical adjustment therein, a conveyer supported by the plow frame and rigidly secured thereto in predetermined relation to said frame, said conveyer including an upper driving roller, arms pivotally secured at their outer ends to the shaft of said roller, a shaft rotatably supported by said arms at the inner ends thereof, members pivoted at,

their upper ends on said shaft and having their lower ends mounted on said axle for rocking movement about the same, driving connections between the axle and the shaft, and driving connections between said shaft and said driving roller of the conveyer.

2. A ditching machine including a main frame, an axle journaled on said frame, ground wheels fixed to said axle, a cross bar carried by said frame in advance of said axle, guide sleeves carried by said cross bar, a plow frame located below said main frame and extending forwardly and rearwardly beyond said axle and said cross bar, standards carried by said plow frame forwardly of said axle and extending upwardly through and beyond said sleeves, a conveyer frame secured near its lower end to said plow frame in rear ofsaid axle and inclining upwardly and rearwardly through and beyond said main frame, bars secured to the upper end of said conveyer frame and to said standards, arms pivoted to the upper end of said conveyer frame and extending forwardly therefrom, other arms pivoted to the forward ends of said first arms and extending downwardly in the direction of and connected to said axle for .rocking movement thereon, conveyer driving mechanism carried by said axle, arms and conveyer frame, said plow frame, standards, conveyer frame and bars forming a rigid structure,

and means associated with said standards for raising and lowering such structure.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS K. LEONARD.

Witnesses:

D. E. GOLDSMITH, B. E. RHoADs. 

